The rise and rise of the spa!

Oct 11 2007 By Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Our forebears would have been astonished by our fitted kitchens and bathrooms, convenience foods, mobile phones, cars and wardrobes stuffed with clothes.

We no longer have to worry about having enough food or a warm place to sleep but survey after survey has shown that we are less happy and more stressed than people 50 years ago. That’s perhaps why yet another survey has found that we are rapidly becoming a nation of spa users. HILARIE STELFOX reports

DR MAXINE STEAD has a background in hard science and is, perhaps, the last person you would expect to open an holistic spa..

With a degree in pharmacology and physiology, she has been involved in academic research for an NHS organisation, working with cancer charities and patients, for much of her working life.

But last year, after a holiday in Bali, she made the decision to give up a well-paid full-time job for a new career in the world of complementary therapies and spa treatments.

Maxine was, in fact, rapidly becoming one of the highly-stressed individuals who use spas. “My job involved lots of travelling to London, working long hours and lot of politics. It was quite a stressful job,’’ she says.

She chilled out so much on holiday that when she returned she visited the Eastthorpe Hall in Mirfield for a reiki treatment, to continue the good work, and says: “It blew me away. I have never felt so relaxed. I realised then what I wanted to do was open my own spa,’’ added Maxine.

A recent survey by another West Yorkshire spa, the Leeds-based Waterfall Spa, has revealed that spa usage is on the increase. Of the 1,500 women, from across the UK, who were questioned, 34% had visited a spa, compared to only 13% three years ago.

Of course it could be argued that we’re using spas more because there are simply more spas around. Huddersfield saw the opening of the Titanic Spa in Linthwaite a couple of years ago and in most towns and cities many hotels and leisure facilities now have spas.

However, Maxine says she conducted market research and looked at the competition before opening her new spa, Alexandra House, in Edgerton, and is convinced that with growing interest in relaxation and holistic treatments there will be plenty of customers to go around.

The Waterfall survey discovered that 60% of women say they don’t get enough time to themselves and only one in five have more than three hours a week to spend on themselves.

Because of her scientific background it might be expected that Maxine would have a real problem with therapies such as reiki (a form of ‘hands on’ healing), chakra balancing and holistic massage and she admits that “it is very challenging for me to think about them.”

But she says she’s open minded and believes that such treatments work with “higher vibrational energies.”

“In this part of the world we are not brought up to think of people as being made of energy but it may be that at this time we just can’t explain it. Science can explain a lot of things now that were once considered inexplicable,” she said.

Maxine, who still works one day a week in her old job, has taken over a former private breast screening clinic, which was based in a beautiful old Victorian villa. She’s re-vamped the interior to create treatment and relaxation rooms and opened the doors to her first customers in early September.

Maxine has trained in reiki and Indian head massage at the Sheffield College of Health and Beauty and is employing two therapists to offer a wide range of other therapies.

The spa is offering taster sessions to those who have never tried treatments before. “There are some people who don’t know what to expect and might feel intimidated,’’ she explained.

Because of her background working alongside cancer charities Maxine also plans to host regular fund-raising events at the spa - her first was a Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning.

For more details check out www.alexandrahouse.org.uk or call 01484 303786. Waterfall Spa has information at www.waterfallspa.co.uk; Eastthorpe has a website, www.eastthorpe.co.uk and Titanic at www.titanicspa.com

lap of luxury Maxine Stead’s spa at Alexandra House in Edgerton is in a beautiful old Victorian villa, re-vamped to create treatment and relaxation rooms hands on Maxine Stead at Alexandra House, Edgerton spa treatments (above and below) at Linthwaite’s Titanic Spa - one in a growing number of spas skin deep Of the 1,500 women, from across the UK, who were questioned in a recent survey, 34% had visited a spa popularity Eastthorpe spa at Mirfield.Today most towns and cities have a spa